Sidetracked during YouTube browsing to find vintage footage of American boxer, Jack Johnson. I first came across the name many years ago in an excellent encyclopedia of the 20th century (which sadly, I have never located since).
The only details that I knew back then subsisted of Johnson beating white opponents, and the call for a “Great White Hope” to defeat him.
Later I learned that he had been penalised under the Mann Act for transporting a woman across state lines for immoral purposes. However, this punishment had a more racial import, as the woman in question was white. Johnson was pardoned in 2018 by President Trump.
This footage is astonishing. First of all, Johnson’s fights occurred at the dawn of the 20th century, so the fact we even have this footage is a miracle. Next, it is one thing to read of a heroic boxer, his image much embroidered by hero-worshippers and himself-- but quite another to see him in person.
We see both how he was treated as a sensation, usually by white American observers, and his own apparent hesitancy in some camera shots. He had a big smile, which is striking, given the sheer lack of dignity afforded to any black man of his time. And his physique was as impressive as pictures suggest.
The footage of the fights themselves inspire both awe and unease. Every time Johnson gained the upper hand and won, you can sense the bitterness and tension in a largely white American audience, which, according to newspapers, led to race rioting afterwards. Today, it is astonishing and repugnant to many that such a result could occur.
Back in the early 20th century, when men and women like Johnson would literally be relegated to the back of any place regardless of fame, this was commonplace. We must always remember not to return to such irrational and repugnant behaviour.
Astonishing footage, a must watch-- even for non-boxing fans like myself.